A Day at the Park
by Sam J
Summary: In the future the group spends a day at the park. Short but sweet. Mostly J/C some T/R. Read!


Disclaimer: All Animorph characters belong to K.A. Applegate and Scholastic Books. Except for Loren, who I kinda made up. The plot of this Fan Fiction is totally mine, and any similarities are completely coincidental. Honestly, I'm not worth suing - I have no money. 

Author's Note: This is in the future, approximately seven or eight years. This has no Animorphs action and it is definitely a J/C fan fiction, although it also has a lot of T/R. I wrote this because there haven't been that many Romance stories written in a while, so I decided to do one. I know it's short, but I think it's cute. Constructive reviews are welcome, if you think it sucks, please write why. Alrighty, I'm done, so enjoy! 

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**A Day at the Park**

Cassie yawned as she sat up in bed and looked at the clock. _8:30am._ Time always seemed to go by fast during the night. Someone stirred beside her. She glanced over at the sleeping figure of Jake. She watched him for a while, thinking about all the terrible things they had experienced in the past. And then she remembered all the good times they had shared. She had been living with Jake for about three years now, right after college, and neither of them were in a rush to tie the knot, they just enjoyed spending time together. Rachel and Tobias (who was now fully human) had married young, almost right out of High School, and had a daughter named Loren - after Tobias' mother - who was now almost five years old. Marco was living it up in California, spending all day at the beach watching the girls and picking up an average of 4 girls a day - or so he constantly wrote. Ax had gone back to the Andalite homeworld after he realized that High School was equivalent to his second grade education. He wished to continue his Warrior training and follow in the footsteps of his brother. The Animorphs didn't see each other that often anymore, ever since they'd defeated Visser Three and forced the Yeerks to retreat. It was as if the Yeerk invasion had never happened, all evidence that there had once been aliens on the Earth had been destroyed, people just didn't want to remember. Of course, Cassie and the others could not forget, no matter how much they wanted to. Jake let out a little snore, bringing Cassie back to the real world. 

"Wake up, sleepyhead," Cassie said playfully, "Rachel and Tobias are bringing Loren over in an hour."   
  
"That's today?" Jake asked tiredly, rolling over towards Cassie.   
  
"Yep, this week sure has gone by fast," Cassie replied, throwing back the covers and standing up, "Come on, help me make the bed."   
  
Reluctantly, Jake got up and helped her pull up the sheets and covers and place the pillows neatly at the head of the bed. Then, after putting on some slippers, staggered downstairs to the kitchen to make some breakfast for them. Cassie slipped some clothes on (fortunately she had developed some taste in clothing during college and didn't wear poop-stained jeans that were way too short anymore) and headed downstairs as well.   
Jake was making the only thing he knew how to make without the use of a microwave: eggs. Although it was obvious he hadn't had much time to practice - the eggs were breaking each time he tried to flip them over. Another one broke open, spilling the orange yolk all over the pan. 

"Aww, shh_hh_ - " Cassie looked at Jake expectantly, "Darn." Jake finished, giving her that adorable smile he reserved only for her. She smiled back and walked over to where he was standing. Looking over his shoulder, she made a face. 

"Well, you've done it now, Jake. Honestly, do I have to rescue you from the eggs every time? Let me explain to you again the trick to flipping eggs..." She carefully pushed the spatula under the egg and with a twitch of her wrist, flipped the egg over so it landed perfectly on the pan. 

"Showoff." Jake muttered, but then he smiled at her and kissed her lightly. 

"Hmmm...I guess you should make eggs more often," Cassie said playfully, placing her arms around Jake's neck. 

"Exactly what I was thinking," he responded kissing her a little longer this time. 

Breaking apart, Cassie sighed.   
  
"I guess we'll have to continue this later, the eggs are going to burn." 

"Yeah. I'll get the plates if you finish the eggs and toast." 

Jake and Cassie sat quietly at the table in the kitchen, eating breakfast and reading the morning newspaper. Jake laughed a little as he read Fox Trot and finished eating his toast. 

_ Diiiing Dooong_ (A/N: sorry - it's the only sound I could think of that a doorbell makes!) Jake's eyes flew open wide in panic. 

"It's nine thirty _already_?" Still in his robe and slippers, Jake raced up the stairs to the bedroom to get dressed. 

Cassie laughed as she walked to the door and opened it. Rachel, Tobias, and Loren stood on the doorstep. Loren's smile grew wide at the site of Cassie, and Rachel and Tobias both greeted her with equally wide smiles. 

"Aunt Cassie!!" she yelled, throwing her arms around Cassie's waist. 

Cassie picked her up laughing and spun her around. 

"Hey there, Loren! Come on in, Rachel, Tobias." 

"Cassie! It's been a while, eh?" Rachel said, engulfing Cassie in a big hug. "How's the cousin treating you? Is his sense of responsibility getting in the way of you guys enjoying yourselves?" she asked jokingly. Cassie laughed. 

"Come on into the living room," she guided Rachel, Tobias, and a energetic Loren into the room, "Jake should be right down." 

Almost exactly at that moment, Jake came down the stairs (A/N: looking sexy, of course!) and walked into the living room. 

"Hey, cuz," Jake laughed, hugging Rachel, "Tobias, how's it going?" 

"Pretty good, Jake. Life's been treating me very well these years," Tobias responded, looking at Rachel and Loren. 

Jake snuck up behind Loren, who was on the floor looking through a basket of toys they kept in the house just for her visits. Grabbing her around the waist, he threw her up into the air and caught her in his arms. Screaming with laughter, she wriggled around in his arms to face him and smiled. 

"Uncle Jake, what are we going to play today?" 

"Well, I think we were planning on going to the park today. But first, we've added another member to our family since you last visited," Jake said. Rachel glanced at Cassie in surprise, "Let's go outside and I'll show you Spike," 

"Hold on a minute, Jake. _Spike_?" Rachel asked suspiciously. 

"Hey don't worry, Rachel, she's just a Cocker Spaniel," Jake said smiling, "Let's go get her and head to the park." 

They all walked out the side door onto the backyard patio where the most adorable puppy was laying, sunning. Loren squealed with happiness and ran over to pet her. Spike's tail wagged back and forth as Loren massaged the puppy's ears. 

"So, why'd you name such a cute little thing _Spike_?" Tobias asked smiling. 

"Well, we didn't really come up with the name. I found her abandoned on the side of the road about five months ago, probably one of those stupid pick-up drivers who throw their dogs in the back of their trucks. Anyway, she was pretty shaken up so I took her up to mom and dad's clinic to fix her up. She had a tag with the name _Spike_ on it, but no one came forward to claim her after I put out the notice. We decided to keep her and her name since she was probably already used to it."   
  
Jake came up with a packed lunch, a bag of activities and the leash. He hooked Spike up. 

"Can I walk her, Uncle Jake?" Loren asked, looking up at him with pleading eyes. 

"How 'bout we walk her together? You wouldn't think it, but this one's pretty strong," he said, affectionately rubbing Spike's ears. 

The group headed off on foot toward the park, which was a couple of blocks away from Cassie and Jake's house. When they arrived, Cassie and Rachel found a park picnic table to sit down at and catch up on all the new gossip since they'd last talked. Jake, Tobias and Loren were playing with the puppy, throwing her toy and just running around with her. It was a beautiful day outside and a perfect day to spend at the park. 

"So, how's everything going with you and Jake?" Rachel asked Cassie curiously. 

"Great, everything's working perfectly. I mean, we both have to go to work during the day, but in the evening we'll just sit down and talk or play a board game. It's more satisfying than driving over to each other's house every weekend just to have a short conversation and leave - we're always there for each other. I think we've grown a lot closer these last three years than ever before." 

"Yeah, it was pretty tough for us to express how we really felt when we were young, you know? But come on, Cassie! You know what I meant, any wedding bells ringing in the near future?" Rachel asked excitedly. 

"I don't know, I'm pretty happy with things like they are now, I think Jake is, too," Cassie replied, "It's not like I don't want to ... I just don't want to rush things. I've heard things slow down once you get married, is that true for you and Tobias?" Cassie asked slyly. 

"Of course not. I don't think I could ever be bored with Tobias and Loren around to keep me busy. Loren is so time-consuming, though. She's got so much energy in her, I can't believe I used to have that much in me, too," Rachel said grinning. "Jake's really good with her, I think he'd make an excellent dad..." Rachel's voice trailed off mischievously. "You guys ever talked about it?" 

"We will when the time's right..." Cassie said as she watched Jake running around with Spike and Loren. 

Tobias had stepped out of the game to catch his breath and was laughing almost as hard as Jake, who was unsuccessfully trying to catch Loren with Spike attacking his feet. He tripped backwards over her and fell on his butt. Loren was pointing and laughing hysterically at Jake. Cassie and Rachel laughed and headed over to where Jake was lying. Tobias had already helped him up and they were trying to calm down an over hyper Spike. 

"It's probably getting time for lunch. Why don't we all head back to the table and set up?" Cassie suggested. 

Jake put his arms around Cassie's shoulders and the whole group headed back over to the picnic table for some lunch. Loren ran up and grabbed Jake's free hand. 

"Mom, Dad, Uncle Jake's so fun! Can he and Aunt Cassie come and play with me tomorrow?" 

Everyone laughed. 

"After lunch, let's go play with Spike again..." Loren said breathlessly. 

Cassie walked along, absently listening to Jake and Loren conspire about what they were going to do after lunch. 

_ 'Rachel's right - Jake would make a great dad. Maybe someday...'_   


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That's all for now, it's supposed to end like that - you can use your own imaginations on what happens in the end (good or bad) or I just might write a sequel. Depends on the reviews. Keep in mind while you're reviewing that this is only my second fan fiction! 


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